Refrigerator lock



May 20 1924.

A. RUBIN REFRIGERATOR LOCK Filed Dec. 1s, 1922 Patented May 20, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.'

' ADOLPH RUBIN, OF ST. LOUIS, M'ISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO SIEBR .PRODUCTS MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

REFRIGEBATOR LOCK.

Application 'led December 18, 1922. Serial No. 607,724.

To all whom it may concern.' A

Be it known that I, Anonrn RUBIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain 'new and useful Improvement in Refrigelliu 1 Vthe stationary keeper on the refrigerator during the operation of closing the refrigerator door, thereby preventing the users hand from being jarred in such a way that itis aptto slip oif of the handle when the latch strikes against the keeper, as so often occurs with locks of the kind that are now generally used on large commercial refrigrators and ice boxes equipped with heavy oors.

Another object is to provide an e'iiicient4 refrigerator lock of inexpensive construction that is composed of a few rugged parts which are not a t to wearout quickly.

Figure 1 of t e drawin s is an end elevational view, partly bro en away, of a refrigerator lock constructed in accordance with my present invention, designed for use on a left hand refri erator door, namel a door in which the lglinges are arrange at the left hand edge of the door. Figure is an end elevational view of a refrigerator lock constructed in accordance with my present invention, designed for use on a right hand door; and

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view of the refrigerator lock shown in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the casing of the lock which preferably convsiets of a hollow castmg provided at one side with a laterally-projectng extension, B designates the latch of the lock, consist' ing of a relatively long lever pivotally connected at 1 to the extension on the casing A and having its free end projecting outwardly through an opening 2 in vone of the side walls of the casing, C designates the keeper that is arranged on the refrigerator in such aposition that it will co-operate with the latch B to retain" the refrigerator door in its closed position, and D deslgnates the operating handle of the lock which is pivotally connected by a pivot pin 3 to a pair of forwardly-proj ctin lugs 4 on the front side of the casing course understood that the casing of the lock is secured to the front side of therefrigerator door.

In the conventional refrigerator lock the latch and the operating -handle are connected together in such a way that the operating handle will rock or move each time the latch strikes against the keeper during the operation of closing the refrigerator door. This is objectionable,

especially in large commercial refrigerators which are equipped with heavy doors, as the operating handle of the lock is used to swing the door into its closed position, and when the operating handle is moved by reason of the latch striking against the keeper, ,there is a tendency out of the hand of the for the handle to jump person closing the door.

The main object of my invention is to rovide a refrigerator lock that does .not liave this objectionable characteristic, and

1t being of therefore, I have devised a lock in which the operating handle D and the latch B are connected wlth each other in such a manner that the latch B is free to move upwardly when it strikes the keeper C without imparting movement to the handle D, thereby producing a lock in which the handle D remains stationary with relation to the door during the operation of closing the door. Se far as my broad idea is concerned it is immaterial what means is employed for connecting the latch B with the operating handle D, so long as said means is of such a character that the latch B can be disenlgaged from the keeper C by operating the andle D preparatory to opening the re frigerator door, and the handle D will remam stationary or `will not rock on its pivot when the latch B strikes against the keeper during the operation ofclosing the door. In the form of my invention herein illustrated the handle D is provided with an singularly-disposed lportion 5 that projects into the casing A through an opening in the front side of same, and said angularly-disposed portion 5 is pivotally connected at 6 the member E to the latch B when said y.1 Iertically-movable member member E is moved u wardly by rockin the handle D of the iock forwardly and permit the member E and handle D to remain at rest when the latch strikes against the keeper, the latch B is rovided with a shiftable bearing device F t at is interposed between the underside of the latch B and a shoulder 9 on the vertically-movable4 member E, as shown in .Figures 1 and 3. Said bearing device F is preferably constructed in the form of a lever pivotally connec at one end by a pintle or pivot pin 10 to depending lugs 11 on' the underside of the latch B and provided at its opposite end with a curved bearing ortion 12 that lies between the latch` B an the shoulder 9 on the vertically-movable member E. A coiled (3.5 contractile spring G is connected at its l I upper end to the bearing device F at a point intermediate the ends of said device, and said spring G is connected at its lower end to theeasmg A preferably by means of a pin 13 on the inside of the casing that projects into an eye on the lower end of the spring G.

When it is desired to disengage the catch B from the keeper C, the handle D is rocked forwardly, thereby moving the member E upwardly and causing the shoulder 9 on said member to co-operate with the curved portion 12 of the bearing device E to move the latch B upwardly out of enga ement with the keeper C. 'As soon as the andle D is released, the spring G will restore the latch B, the vertically-movable member E and handle D to their former ositions. Thereafter, when the door of t e refrigerator is moved into its closed position, the roller 14 of the latch B rides u wardly over the inclined surface 15 on t e keeper, and thus rocks the free end of the latch B upwardly.

'This upward movement of the free end of the latch B has no eect, however, on the handle D or on the latch iperating member E connected with the han e, due, of course, to the fact that .there is no pivotal connection or positive connection between the latch B and the vertically-movable operatin member E. On the contrary, the upwar movement of the free end of the latch B merely causes the curved portion 12 on the bearing device F to rock on the shoulder 9 on the E or slide over said shoulder without starting the posi- Lacasse non f the member E or the handle" D. as

soon as the roller 14 on the latch passes over the high point of the keeper C, the spring F contracts, and thus restores the latch B andbearing device F to their former positions. It will thus be seen that with a reconventional refrigerator lock in the operation of closing the door. Moreover, as the lock is composed of only a few parts of rugged design, 'the lock is inexpensive to manufacture and the arts of same will not wear outV uickly, an ciency of t e lock as a means for holding a refrigerator door tightll closed.

Having thus describe my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by ters Patent is:

1. A refrigerator lock, comprising a pivotally mounted latch, a handle, an operating member connected to said handle, and a bearing device inteposed between said o erating member an latch for movin t e latch when the handle is actuated an for permitting the handle to remain at rest when the latch engages its co-operating keeper during the operation of closing the refrigerator door.

2. A refrigerator lock, comprising a pivotally mounted latch' adapted to co-operate with a in its closed position, a spring that exerts ressure on said latch in one direction, a andle, an operating member connected to said handle for moving said handle in oppo` sition to said spring, and a bearing device inter osed between said operating member and atch that transmits movement to the latch when the handle is actuated and which shifts relatively to said operating member without imparting movement to same when the latch engages the keeper during the op-v eration of closing the door.

3. A refrigerator lock, comprising a pivotally-mounted latch adapted to co-operate with a keeper to retain the refrigerator door in its closed position, a handle, an operating member connected to said handle, and a bearing device pivotally connected to said latch and having a portion interposed between the latch and a shoulder on said operating member.

thus reduce the ei-A 4. A refrigerator lock, comprising a pivi otally-mounted latch adapted to co-operate with a keeper to retain the refrigerator door in its closed position, a handle, an operating member connected to said handle, a bearin device pivotally'connected to said latch an having a portion interposed4 between the latch and a shoulder on said operating member, and a spring i connected to said bearin handle and provided with a shoulder, and a.

device for normally holding said latch an spring-pressed bearing device pivotally conhandle in a certain position. nected to the latch and having a curved por- 10 5. A refrigerator lock, comprising a castion that is interposed between the latch and f 6 ing, a pivotally-mounted latch on said casthe shoulder on said operating member.

ing, a handle carried by said casing, a reciprocating operating member connected to said ADOLPH RUBIN. 

